A Haven for Vee

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Recipe Rip-Offs

It must be a closely guarded secret...the recipe for brown bread at King's Landing, New Brunswick, Canada. It's one of those breads that, though we are twenty miles away (when at the cottage that is) and down a dirt road six plus miles long and fraught with pioneer adventures each inch along the way of it, we find ourselves drawn over and over again to stop by and pick up another loaf or two or five. Man! It is some kind of delicious.

Mother and I had been scouting for the recipe and trying various brown breads for years. Over the weekend, when I whittled my Inbox from 999 emails to less than 100, I found an email with a recipe enclosed. It was from my niece and it said, "this is the one."

My excitement knew no bounds. I flagged it and set it aside and lost it and re-found it and finally printed it off and made it yesterday.

Did you know that there really are no copyright laws for recipes? I know because I used to proofread cookbooks. If I am using a favorite recipe for publication on my blog, I change some minor thing and pray that it isn't terribly significant. That's why I wonder about recipes we find on the web...they may not be as well tested as those we find in a book. This recipe that I'm not sharing was found by my niece on the web.


King's Landing bread is sweet and flavorful. Sweet. Quite sweet. This bread had a third of a cup of molasses and 6 cups of flour and a cup of oatmeal, but it was not sweet.


King's Landing bread is not Anadama bread, though it might be considered similar. If you click on the highlighted bit there, you can read the fun history of Anadama bread, which is a New England story.


Smelled good, though.


Looks pretty. Tastes blah. Flat. Not going to make this recipe again. If anyone knows of a delicious brown bread recipe that is sweet and flavorful, please fill me in.

What's your favorite bread and when is the last time you baked some?


P.S. If you'd like to take a little tour of King's Landing, Pam gives a great one right *here.*

34 comments:

  1. I wonder if it would taste sweeter if honey was used instead?

    I personally don't care for just molasses in a bread. It gives an "off" taste to what I'm used to eating.

    Maybe it is a Midwestern thing. ;)

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  2. I typically only make breads like banana, zucchini, pumpkin...yeah, like those! I do have a bread machine, but haven't had that out in years. We used to make our pizza dough in that more then anything. Sometimes I would buy a boxed mix bread...not so Suzy Homemaker is it. But, we did like the Hawaiian Bread from a box made in that machine. Your bread does look good, but I'll take your word for it being blah! Hope you find the recipe you're looking for!

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  3. Vee,
    We like all bread...But I make Anadama Bread in my bread machine and it is wonderful. I will be making it this weekend. Sorry yours didn't work out.

    Carol

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  4. I make a rustic Tuscan bread that is pretty good. As far a sweet tasting breads, banana is the one I make. I have never had brown bread!

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  5. Mother used to get a brown bread in a can at the grocery store that was to die for. Sorry yours didn't turn out, Vee.
    Have a great day~
    TTFN ~
    Hugs,
    Marydon

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  6. Have you checked out Pinterest for any recipes? You may have some luck there-or not. :)

    I love homemade bread-who doesn't!
    I hope that you find what you're looking for and that it will be worth sharing, with us. :P

    ((Hugs))
    Laura

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  7. Oh my, King's Landing is now on my list of places to visit! It's exactly the type of countryside I would love to live all the time.

    Bread is one of my favorite foods. I keep a sourdough starter and love to cook with it. I have a favorite bread that I always bought in Germany. A German friend sent me a similar recipe, but it wasn't the same. I can empathize with your desire to find the recipe, but that really isn't much help.

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  8. Since I have gotten old and lazy, I just make bread in my bread machine, except for a French bread that I have made for years. I love the breads at Cheesecake factory. They have a dark, sweet one there. Have a good day.

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  9. How could something so pretty taste so blah! Okay Vee, the oven is doing it's job, now you have got to find that right recipe, and if she (the oven) could talk, she would probably ask you if you need her to help, after all she is new and is just set on go to strut her stuff. lol
    My favorite is stone milled rye, could eat it every day!
    Thanks for the sites, will go there.
    Enjoy your day.
    Hugs,
    Sue

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  10. That is beautiful bread!

    We usually just make regular white/wheat bread and sometimes a scrumptious sweet french bread that makes us happy!

    Your oven looks great baking that bread!

    I hope you find a recipe - in California we had King's Hawaiian that was a restaurant and they had fabulous bread and rolls, sweet. They do sell it commercially but I have never seen it here in the Northeast.

    Have a wonderful day!

    Deanna

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  11. Mmmm...Anadama bread...
    Gourmet magazine frequently will ask restaurants for requested recipes. Might be worth asking?

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  12. The bread might not be great but that new oven looks fabulous!

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  13. Hey Vee, the bread does look yummy; sorry it does not taste so. I do have a brown bread recipe we lived off for years. In fact I'm wanting to make some again, It has molasses and brown sugar so slightly sweet, Makes four loaves but I often used 1/4 of it to form dinner rolls. I will have to look it up and send it your way.

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  14. Sorry you still don't have *THE* recipe...

    But just loooooook at that gorgeous, sparkling, shiny, clean, new stove!!!
    Delightful!

    I notice, 'cause I'm still in the phase of seeing-every-little-smudge-on-our-brand-new-refrigerator-and-wiping-them-off-immediately. -chuckle-

    How long will this phase last????

    Hmmmmm....

    -sigh-

    Oh I do hope, for a long time! ,-)

    "We are born with whirlwinds, forest fires, and comets inside us. We are born able to sing to birds and read the clouds and see our destiny in grains of sand. But then we get the magic educated right out of our souls."
    ~Robert R. McCammon

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  15. I'm with Ellen...your new oven looks great...and so sparkly clean. Maybe it's time mine got cleaned! I have a few favorite breads...and love adding sunflowers seeds to my brown breads. I've rarely found a loaf of homemade fresh bread thta I didn't love!

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  16. Good morning! That bread LOOKS sooo good, how sad it didn't taste that way...and that new oven is so shiny and clean! I don't bake bread anymore as I tend to over eat it if I do...I will just have to look at yours...Have a wonderful day!

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  17. Vee, go to Yankee Magazine online and seardh for a brown bread recipe in their "Food" section. I usually like most of their recipes as they are thr tried and true recipes of home cooks.

    This month;s issue has a recipe for steamed brown bread made in a can, meant to be eaten with beans:

    http://www.yankeemagazine.com/issues/2012-01/food/mini-boston-brown-bread-can

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  18. They do make a delicious brown bread at Kings Landing. I find it's a heavier bread too. The next best brown bread is at the Keswick Bakery, about 20 minutes from KL. They don't share their recipe that I know of but they can't keep it on the shelf. It's soft and high and oh so yummy. So, next time you're at the cottage drive on down the road a ways to Keswick (and stop to visit me on the way by!). Thanks for the shout out too! Oh, my mother-in-law made delicious bread and I have her recipe but have never made it!! I know. I just drive to the bakery when I need a 'fix'! Enjoy the day!

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  19. Hello Vee
    I have been trying to find a recipe for brown bread for years. I had an amazing recipe but sadly it was lost. I was raised on the East Coast of Canada and the US. Brown bread was baked daily in my home. I live on the West Coast now and finding Brown Bread is impossible. If you find a great recipe I hope you will share

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  20. The bread does look delicious! I have baked a lot of bread over the years but I'm not sure I have a recipe for what you are looking for. I hope if you find it, you'll post the recipe! Hugs! ♥

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  21. Sounds like you'll need some delightful jelly or jam to perk that bread up. Sorry it wasn't the right one yet. That is a big let down.

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  22. Like most everyone on this planet, I love homemade bread with a passion. I am NOT good at making it,however. Just not.
    I have no recipe to share...and if you ever find the one you search for, PLEZZZZZ share it with us.;)

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  23. I don't buy bread anymore. I bake all my own bread in my bread machine. It does all the work and everything tastes wonderful. Ken prefers the traditional white bread but I like all kinds.
    I just make the recipes that came with the machine.
    The most recent was Sunday when I made white bread and a couple of days before that it was Dill bread.
    Also it makes great pizza dough which I made on Sunday as well.

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  24. I love baking bread but don't make it that often, usually only when we have company for dinner. Love the artisan bread in 5 minute recipes.

    I'm sorry your bread didn't come close to what you were looking for and I'm afraid I can't help with a recipe.

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  25. Sorry, your brown bread didn't please the taste buds.
    In recent months, I have been experimenting with a couple of recipes from the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois book.
    It is a totally new way for me to bake bread (not that I have much experience), but the closest I have so far got to what I am used to from Germany. It is utterly labour-inintensive which should be right up your alley. Next batch I'll make will be on hen and dough if you are interested.

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  26. What a shame that it doesn't taste as good as it looks. I only remember tasting brown bread once and it was in a can. I thought it was strange and didn't care for it. Is this the same brown bread you are talking about?
    Judy at MGCC has a recipe for a buttermilk flaxseed bread that is delicious. I make it anytime I have leftover buttermilk that needs to be used.

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  27. The only kind of bread I have any luck with is banana, apple, or zucchini bread. Anything other kind of bread that requires yeast just throws me into a tailspin. I can never for the life of me get it to turn out right. I'd buy a bread machine, but it's just another appliance that I don't really have room for. It's a good excuse to make a trip to the Amish/Mennonite store to buy their bread. Your bread did turn out looking good. Mine would've been all lopsided.

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  28. I am not a good bread maker. I like a a sweet bread like banana nut or apple cinnamon raisin bread. Hope you find the recipe you are seeking.

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  29. isn't it disappointing to have such high
    hopes from a recipe? one time i made
    6 different kinds of molasses cookies
    looking for a specific one. never did
    find it.

    sorry about your brown bread. :(

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  30. A sweet brown bread? I've never heard of it before! Does it use whole wheat flour? Perhaps honey is what makes it sweet---now I'm completely intrigued wondering what ingredients are in this bread!

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  31. We are on the same page today, aren't we, with our copy cat recipes? Hope you are successful with your search for the right brown bread recipe! Maybe you'll have just the right internet friend who happens to have just the right recipe and you and your new oven will turn out a perfectly delicious loaf of brown bread and then you'll share the recipe with us! (Hey, it could happen. Remember the molasses cookies?)

    My favorite bread recipe may just be the one I have for Sally Lunn bread. I found the recipe in our local paper some years ago, submitted by the principal of my husband's elementary school.

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  32. Mmm...bread. I haven't had any since October and it seems like 4-evah! I love pumpernickel, seeded rye, a good sourdough, crusty Italian or French...ok I have to stop.

    Good luck with the treasure hunt!

    Leann

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  33. Oh yes, it certainly DOES look quite appetizing! Too bad looks are deceiving though. I LOVE Portuguese sweet bread but have never made it. My aunt used to make it and served it with "Port-a-gie" beans with linguica. **my mouth is watering now**

    I do love to make banana bread - though it is more of a dessert.

    Maybe someday you will find that recipe.

    hugs,
    Becky

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  34. The best bread in the whole wide world was made by my Aunt Menie in Cape Breton. We called it Porridge Bread because it was made with oatmeal and molasses. Sooooo good. I'm off to look through Mum's recipe for her sweet brown bread.

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